Mechanical properties of boron blended cement concretes

Cement manufacturing process requires high energy consumption. On the other hand, one of the major environmental problems that are faced in this process is the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Therefore, the researchers have been investigating the ways to mitigate these problems. During the production of Boron Modified Active Belite (BAB) cement a considerable energy savings and reduced CO2 emission is known to be possible. However the properties of this type of cement have not widely been known, yet. In this, study some mechanical and permeability properties of BAB cement concretes exposed to different initial curing conditions were investigated and compared to those of ordinary Portland cement concretes. Mechanical properties were evaluated through compressive and splitting tensile strength development, while the durability of the concretes was measured by means of rapid chloride penetration and water sorptivity tests. The results showed that mechanical properties of BAB cement concrete, at especially later ages, were slightly better than Portland cement concretes. According to the durability test results, the BAB cement concretes had superior permeability characteristics than the Portland cement concretes